Claire is back with another excellent article, this time reflecting on her last 5 years in Barcelona.

Within the next couple of weeks it will be 5 years to the day since I was hit by a wall of heat as I stepped off a sleeper train in Estació de França, with probably more luggage than is really permitted in their carriages. It’s difficult now to remember exactly how I felt at the time, what I was expecting, how long it would take, if ever, to feel like home. Moving away from a comfortable, happy life in Manchester to try one I’d dreamed of in a Mediterranean city has thrown more experiences and challenges my way than I ever expected and this anniversary has provided a good opportunity to reflect on what as a British expat are my personal highs and lows of Barcelona life. Read the rest of this article…

Australian-born, Barcelona resident, Brett Hetherington has kindly shared a chapter from his new book, “The ReMade Parent: Why We Are Losing Our Children & How We Can Get Them Back”. Chapter 5 asks the question, ‘Is Spain a parent’s paradise?’.

If after reading this chapter you’d like to read the whole book you can purchase the Kindle or Paperback version for the current low price of £2.80 and £5.27 respectively.

Spain: A Parent’s Paradise?

Sometimes I’m asked why I am living in Spain.

The short answer is that like many other immigrants I live in Spain because I want to. It took ten years of trying to arrange work here (from outside Europe) but a main reason my partner and I have chosen this country is because we believe it is one of the best places in the world to bring up a young child.

But is there in fact somewhere on the planet that is virtually a paradise for parents, and therefore more likely to be ideal for children too? Is here the place where there is no need to re-make parenting because perfection has already been achieved? Read the rest of this article…

BCN Type in progress

I know, you’re wondering whether this has turned into a site about type after last weeks Barcelona font post. But this one I couldn’t resist.

From the hand of German born, but Spanish influenced, Simón Prades, comes BCN Type. Grungy, futuristic lettering inspired by Barcelona’s famous grid system. Read the rest of this article…

This is a bit of a geeky post but what the hell. I love Barcelona. And I love typography. So what better than a Barcelona font! Read the rest of this article…

I came across this great infographic the other day from the guys at Apartment Barcelona. Unlike most of these kind of things there was actually some stuff I didn’t know! So I thought I’d share it.

Did you know about all these things?

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Barcelona [Infographic]

A contribution from Peter Lavelle, an economist at foreign exchange broker Pure FX, on the currency situation for an independent Catalonia.

What currency would an independent Catalonia use?

Catalonia continues to press for its independence. This past September 11th (the 299th anniversary of the fall of Barcelona, which led to Catalonia’s accession as part of Spain), 1.6 million Catalans linked hands around the region, to draw attention to their cause. Moreover, next year, Catalan president Artur Mas plans a referendum, to see just how much of the Catalan populous favours ceding from Spain.

However, aside from Catalonia’s ongoing struggle, the possibility of its independence raises certain questions. Like, for example, what currency would an independent Catalonia use? Well, that’s what I want to look at here. Read the rest of this article…

One of my favourite writers, Sally, champions the district of El Raval in Barcelona.

Sally at the Barcelo 360 Bar

‘…the district of sinners, crooks and toughs, a maggot hill, a cesspit and cavern, a den of criminals. It is fetishized, endowed with causal powers, apparently destroying all moral and physical life within it… a terrible centre for infection, the pestulant bottom of a sewer, with its smell of sin and affliction. Many of the area’s inhabitants mutated into a subhuman race. Everyone has funereal features, the look of having recently been in hospital, the appearance of death. They don’t eat. They nourish themselves with alcohol, morphine, ether, ‘coke’ and wine’

An Imagined Geography: Ideology, Urban Space, and Protest in the Creation of Barcelona’s ‘Chinatown’ by Chris Ealham, c.1835–1936 Read the rest of this article…